EchoLink & IRLP

MDARC runs a VoIP (Voice over
Internet Protocol) computer on the top of Mt. Diablo. This system is
currently running RedHat 9.0 and has EchoIRLP software installed on it.
This EchoIRLP software allows a user to connect the MDARC repeaters to
other repeaters or individuals around the world and carry on a voice
conversation with those distant stations. The new system is currently
accessible from the club's 2M repeater at 147.060 MHz. PL 100Hz.

The EchoIRLP software consists of two separate software systems. The
ﬁrst is EchoLink, which allows a user to connect to other hams that are
logged on to the EchoLink network as a repeater, link or user. This
connection has the ability to be made to several different stations at
the same time and can be set to a maximum number, depending on the
speed of the Internet connection. For the MDARC repeaters this number
is currently set for 5. The user software is available for both PCs and
Macs (EchoMac). Please make sure to forward UDP ports 5198 - 5199 and
TCP port 5200 if you are behind a router or ﬁrewall. EchoLink
software (for PCs) is available at
www.echolink.org. EchoMac software is available at
www.dogparksoftware.com.

Both are free, but require that you register to ensure that you are a
ham before you can download the software.

IRLP software has the ability to connect the club's repeaters to
other repeaters or to connect to conference servers located throughout
the world. These connections are repeater to repeater connections and
currently do not allow users to connect directly from their computers.
The conference servers are located at wide pipe portals and have the
ability to have more than 50 repeaters connected at the same time. The
audio quality tends to be better on IRLP since it has more control over
the repeaters in the system. They tend to frown on repeaters that do not
strip their courtesy tones, hang time and IDs from the Internet side
of the connection. They also better control the speed of the connections
required for the use of IRLP software. Almost all the connections on
repeaters using IRLP software will be high speed DSL, T1 or cable modem
connections.

The access of the distant nodes is easy. For an IRLP connection,
simply touch tone the 4 digit node number of the station you want to
connect to. You will be greeted by a "now connecting to" message.
Please wait for this greeting to ﬁnish before you begin to make a
call. Please remember you may be connecting to a repeater in the middle
of a conversation. So waiting to make sure is the rule. Enter 73 on the
touch tone pad to disconnect. A list of active nodes can be viewed at
http://irlp.net.

The access for EchoLink is similar to that of
IRLP, but you must start the touch tone command with the A button ﬁrst
followed by the node number. In the case of EchoLink, the node numbers
can be up to 6 digits. You will be greeted by a "now connecting to xxxxx"
message. Please wait for this greeting to ﬁnish before you begin
to make a call. Please remember you may be connecting to a repeater,
link, or user in the middle of a conversation. So waiting to make sure
is the rule. Enter 73 on the touch tone pad to disconnect EchoLink.

Please remember to ID before you run any touch tone commands.

To
connect to the W6CX 2m repeater from another location, you can connect
to IRLP node 3057, or EchoLink node "W6CX-R" (number 133896).

The system is designed to not allow cross connections between the two
services.